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National touring 'House & Home' exhibition now open at St. Bonaventure's Quick Center

Sep 11, 2013 |
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — What makes a house a home? Throughout American history, people have lived in all sorts of places — from military barracks and two-story colonials to college dormitories and row houses.

“House & Home,” a new exhibition at The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University, embarks on a tour of houses both familiar and surprising, through past and present, to explore the varied history and many cultural meanings of the American home.

Drawn from the flagship installation at the National Building Museum, “House & Home” explores how our ideal of the perfect house and our experience of what it means to “be at home” have changed over time. Visitors will learn about issues of housing inequality, land distribution and the role of the government from the colonial period through the Homestead Act and the creation of the Federal Housing Administration in the 1930s.

Featured films, construction materials, domestic artifacts and photographs immerse viewers in how transformations in technology, government policy and consumer culture have impacted American domestic life. Related sections of “House & Home” look outward, exploring the relationship of the individual house to the larger society by presenting examples of contemporary community development through film.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Quick Center will host a lecture in October before the close of the exhibition. The Quick Center has also added several pieces from the university’s Permanent Collection to the exhibit, including a handmade rug that was a gift from the late Rose Pappas, and children’s toys on loan from Francie Potter.

“House & Home” was organized by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., and curated by Sarah Leavitt. “House & Home” was made possible through NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It has been adapted and is being toured by the Mid-America Arts Alliance. Founded in 1972, Mid-America Arts Alliance is the oldest regional nonprofit arts organization in the United States. For more information, visit www.maaa.org or www.nehontheroad.org.

Regular gallery hours at the Quick Center are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Museum admission is free and open to the public year-round. For more information, visit www.sbu.edu/quickcenter.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. We are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.